Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recommended that Simon be appointed as a federal judge in the District of Oregon. He was nominated in 2010, and then again in 2011, after the first nomination died before the Senate brought it to a vote.

Simon once argued before the very judge he is replacing — Judge Ancer Haggerty, who became a senior judge, stepping down as an active judge in the spring of 2009. In that case, Simon served as a pro bono attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. As a friend of the court, he advocated for a more nuanced reading of the First Amendment, arguing against both the plaintiff and defendant in a case involving White Aryan Resistance.

Simon practiced trial and appellate law at Perkins Coie for 25 years, with a focus on antitrust cases and class actions.

He’ll discuss prominent cases he’s worked on, the lengthy confirmation process he went through, why he feels lucky to have come through that process as a judge, and what he thinks it will be like to be on the other side of the bench.

Was Michael Simon’s appointment on your radar? What would you like to ask Oregon’s newest federal judge?